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BICYCLES: AN ANALYSIS OF ACCIDENTS IN NORTH CAROLINA

BICYCLE ACCIDENTS FOR THE THREE-YEAR PERIOD COVERING JULY, 1965, THROUGH JUNE, 1968, WERE ANALYZED ACCORDING TO A NUMBER OF VARIABLES. IN ADDITION TO COMPARING FATAL AND NON-FATAL BICYCLE ACCIDENTS WITH EACH OTHER, FURTHER COMPARISONS WERE MADE WITH SAMPLE DATA FOR 1966 MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS IN NORTH CAROLINA. THE VARIABLES INVESTIGATED COVERED FIVE MAJOR CATEGORIES. THE FIRST CATEGORY INVOLVES FEATURES OF THE SITUATION IN WHICH THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED, SUCH AS THE TIME OF DAY, THE WEATHER CONDITIONS, AND THE ROAD CONDITIONS. THE SECOND CATEGORY CONCERNS CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ACCIDENT ITSELF, NAMELY THE VEHICLE MANEUVER INVOLVED, THE APPROXIMATE SPEED OF THE MOTOR VEHICLE, AND THE POINT OF CONTACT WITH THE MOTOR VEHICLE. THE THIRD CATEGORY CONCERNS THE PRESENCE OF DEFECTS IN THE MOTOR VEHICLE AND WHETHER THE MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVER WAS CHARGED WITH A TRAFFIC VIOLATION. CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DRIVER ARE REPORTED IN THE FOURTH CATEGORY, NAMELY SEX, AGE, AND PHYSICAL CONDITION. THE FIFTH CATEGORY CONCERNS THE BICYCLIST AND INCLUDES INFORMATION CONCERNING SEX AND AGE. PROBABLY MOST OF THE DIFFERENCES FOUND BETWEEN BICYCLE ACCIDENTS AND ALL MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO DIFFERENCES IN EXPOSURE. FOR EXAMPLE, THE FINDING THAT IN BICYCLE ACCIDENTS THERE IS A GREATER PROBABILITY THAT THE MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVER WILL BE FEMALE IS PRESUMABLY RELATED TO THE FACT THAT BICYCLE ACCIDENTS TEND TO OCCUR MORE FREQUENTLY IN THE DAYTIME AND IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS. IT IS LIKELY THAT THERE IS A GREATER PROPORTION OF FEMALE DRIVERS IN THESE PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES THAN IN GENERAL. THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FATAL AND NON-FATAL BICYCLE ACCIDENTS APPEAR TO INVOLVE THE LOCATION OF THE ACCIDENT, AGE OF THE BICYCLIST, AND APPROXIMATE SPEED OF THE MOTOR VEHICLE. FATAL ACCIDENTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO INVOLVE THE OLDER BICYCLIST AND TO OCCUR IN OPEN COUNTRY AT HIGHER MOTOR VEHICLE SPEEDS, WHILE NON-FATAL ACCIDENTS ARE CONCENTRATED IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS WITH THE YOUNGER BICYCLIST BEING INVOLVED. ALSO, ACCIDENTS OCCURRING AT NIGHT ON UNLIGHTED ROADS HAVE A HIGHER PROBABILITY OF RESULTING IN A FATALITY THAN DO ACCIDENTS OCCURRING UNDER OTHER LIGHT CONDITIONS. /AUTHOR/